These are the first five terms in a Fibonacci sequence - OCR - GCSE Maths - Question 11 - 2017 - Paper 1
Question 11
These are the first five terms in a Fibonacci sequence.
1 3 4 7 11
Write down the next two terms in the sequence.
In a different Fibonacci sequence the fourth... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:These are the first five terms in a Fibonacci sequence - OCR - GCSE Maths - Question 11 - 2017 - Paper 1
Step 1
Write down the next two terms in the sequence.
96%
114 rated
Only available for registered users.
Sign up now to view full answer, or log in if you already have an account!
Answer
The Fibonacci sequence adds the two previous terms to get the next term. Therefore,
After 11, the next term is 7 + 11 = 18.
Following 18, the next term is 11 + 18 = 29.
The next two terms are 18 and 29.
Step 2
Work out the first term in this sequence.
99%
104 rated
Only available for registered users.
Sign up now to view full answer, or log in if you already have an account!
Answer
Let the first term be denoted as 'a'. In this Fibonacci sequence:
The fourth term is 31, which can be written as x + y = 31.
The fifth term is 50, which can be written as y + (x + y) = 50 or x + 2y = 50.
Now we can solve these equations:
From the first equation:
We have x + y = 31.
From the second equation:
We transform it to get: x + 2y = 50.
Subtracting the first equation from the second yields:
(x + 2y) - (x + y) = 50 - 31
This simplifies to: y = 19.
Substituting y back into the first equation gives:
x + 19 = 31
Therefore, x = 31 - 19 = 12.
Thus, the first term is 7.
Step 3
Write down algebraic expressions for the first, fourth and fifth terms.
96%
101 rated
Only available for registered users.
Sign up now to view full answer, or log in if you already have an account!
Answer
Given the second and third terms are x and y,
The first term can be expressed as: First term = y - x.
The fourth term expression is: Fourth term = x + y.
The fifth term expression is: Fifth term = x + 2y.